Scottish Catholic Observer

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia helped St Mirin’s Primary School, Glasgow, mark its diamond jubilee recently by celebrating Mass with pupils, parents, grandparents and former staff.

The Mass was celebrated at Christ the King Church, Kings park, Glasgow, where the archbishop spoke to the children about the ‘happiest days of their lives’ and emphasised the values of forgiveness and being happy with your friends.

Teachers from the school, both past and present attended, the Mass, which marked St Mirin’s entering its sixth decade, and they were joined by a number of former priests associated with the primary, including Fr John Keenan, who will become Scotland’s youngest bishop when he joins St Mirin’s Cathedral, Paisley, in March.

Miss Pauline Devine, headteacher at St Mirin’s, spoke of the ‘fabulous’ occasion, and said that pupils at the Mass did the school proud.

“The Archbishop was very good with the children,” Miss Devine said. “He made the Mass about them rather than the parents.”

The last 60 years at St Mirin’s have brought many changes but the school has stuck close to its history. Upon its original opening, the school was too small for the large number of Catholics who wanted to attend, and additional huts had to be erected to accommodate the demand, a situation Miss Devine is happy to say still holds true.

“We have a nice mixture of old and new,” Miss Devine said. “We keep a lot of traditions going and that I think is what pupils, parents and clergy want.”

St Mirin’s will be celebrating its milestone anniversary every month of this year. Following on from class parties in January, and February’s jubilee Mass, the school will have a packed schedule of activities including a cabaret dinner and dance, a school trip, and even class songs, recorded in a studio provided by a generous parent.

PIC: PAUL McSHERRY

—This story ran in full in the Feb 21 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.